ROME (AP) -- European Union Commission President Romano Prodi opened a letter bomb at his home in Bologna on Saturday but was not hurt when the package burst into flames, his spokesman said.
It was the third attack on the EU's top official in a week.
Last week, two small bombs exploded near Prodi's home, also without harming anyone. A previously unknown anarchist group claimed responsibility for those attacks.
Spokesman Marco Vignudelli said Saturday it was unclear who sent the latest bomb.
``Prodi himself managed to open the parcel. The pack exploded with a big fire,'' he said. ``There were no injuries whatsoever. It was a small bomb.''
On Dec. 21, two small bombs hidden in trash bins exploded outside Prodi's house. The devices _ consisting of a cooking pot, a gas cylinder and a timer - went off within an hour of each other when no one was home.
Later, a group calling itself the Informal Anarchic Federation, using the acronym FAI in Italian, claimed responsibility in a letter sent from Bologna to a newspaper. Investigators said they believed the letter was probably sent by the culprits.
Prodi lives in Brussels, Belgium, where the EU executive body is based, but he has been spending the Christmas holidays in his hometown in Italy.
